Stay-healthy travel abroad tips

She also suggests using a professional local driver whenever possible, and to use common sense.

"It's just as important to wear your seatbelt on vacation as it is at home," she says. That may sound like a no-brainer, but in fact, she notes, a lot of people take a different attitude to risk when they're on vacation. "They tend to do things that they wouldn't in their everyday lives," she says, whether that's bungee jumping, motorcycling or renting a jet ski without proper instructions.

Simple Steps To Prevent Illness
At least six weeks before your trip, visit a clinic specializing in travel medicine, as some immunizations can take that long to become effective. A travel clinic will provide general medical advice about the countries you're visiting, and look at your immunization history to determine what you need.

Some common dangers in developing countries for which immunizations are available include hepatitis A, yellow fever and typhoid, says Dr. Imperato of SUNY Downstate Medical Center. While travel clinics exist in most U.S. cities — they're often run by hospitals or academic medical centers — many health insurance policies don't cover travel medicine. Each shot can cost from $75 to $125.

Speaking of health insurance, many standard U.S. policies often cover only a portion of overseas treatment, and even customers who are covered often have to pay before they can get treatment.

But travelers can purchase additional foreign travel health insurance for the length of their trip, even including coverage for medical evacuation.

MEDEX, which caters to institutional clients like USAID and McCormick & Co., also sells travel health policies to individuals for as little as $4 a day. World Nomads, an insurance broker geared to longer-term travelers, addresses delicate questions on its Web site such as whether your coverage will apply if you were parachuting, attacked by a bear or robbed while breaking local laws. (Answers: no, sometimes and no.)

FirstPerson Your world MSNBC.com readers submit photos from their travels

And what about the prospects of an avian flu outbreak?

"The fear is overblown," Zeiger says. "To be terribly afraid of it right now is certainly out of proportion to the illness."

Worldwide, the disease has affected only about 200 people, and can only be caught from infected birds. If it mutates into a form that can be transmitted by human-to-human contact, "that would be a horrifying event," Zeiger says. "But it would be just as horrifying for a person sitting in front of the television in New York City, because it would be there too in a few weeks."

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